A wire wheel I have mounted on one side of a bench grinder gets the call to take a couple passes up and down the rib to scuff them up and clear anything stuck in there.
On a straight line cut matting like on a Nitro Special the matting can often show scrapes & scratches across the lines from handling. You can carefully retrace each line with a 1/2rd file that is shaped to a fine point (don't know the name for them).
It'll ride nicely in each row and with a bit of work you can elliminate the damage and it greatly improves the looks. It doesn't take all that much time either. Who would bother on a N/Spl and others like that?,,I would as long as I'm bothering to make something of it.
A single point carbide checkering tool can work too,,but I don't like wearing out those expensive tools. The file is actually narrower at the point than a 90* chk'rg tool and works better IMO.
A quick pass when done over the top of the rib with a piece of 320 backed up to remove any burrs and then a pass on the wire wheel blends the work in nicely ready for bluing.
